Jack, this one was near Cuyamaca Mountain in SoCal. They seem to congregate in small flocks of 8-10 with one or possibly two really bright males, who usually pick the more distant bushes. This guy was on the same branch for about 45 shots of varying poses before being spooked by an Acorn Woodpecker.

Thanks for that ERHP. We used to have mountain bluebirds but now they are rare, maybe just becasue of the population expanding into the country. People put up bluebird boxes on fence posts and maybe I'll have to get into gear and start doing that. Probably tree swallows would take them over. Anyway, I don't recall ever seeing one so totally colorful, but maybe it's just been so long I don't remember accurately. Give us a few more shots! It'll help me tough it out till spring. I did get shots of a brother and sister moose in the snow today so that helped a little!

And now I have a feeder and this was one of my first visitors. Unfortunately, I have back lighting.

Here's a White-faced-Heron (Egretta novaehollandiae) hunting for snake meat in the Cumberland River Bank, Victoria, Australia.

Cool Sequence!

Thanks for the kinds words Ed ... I just saw your smugmug website ... awesome images, I really like the Bluebird image you posted here, very sharp with beautiful colors and great lighting ... a perfect bird photo.